Youthful Saints fall to late defeat at the Riverside

Match report – Samuel Porritt

Youthful Saints fall to late defeat at the Riverside.

St. Johnstone B took on East of Scotland Premier Division side and Perth ‘rivals’ Jeanfield Swifts in a friendly match on Wednesday evening. A bumper crowd at the Riverside witnessed a competitive contest, with the home side snatching a late victory.

A hard-fought first half of football ended goalless but both sides had their chances to break the deadlock, and the second 45 was much the same, until Swifts striker Chris McLeish bagged a late brace of headers to seal the victory for his side. 

Saints B were under early pressure from the hosts, with a Fraser Smith corner into the box being scrambled away, but only as far as Jamie Reid - with the defender’s effort on goal from the edge of the box crashing off the outside of the post and away. 

Seven minutes into the game Jeanfield went close again. A Connor McLaren free-kick from range had Craig Hepburn beaten, but fortunately for Saints, it landed on the roof of the net - missing the top corner of the goal by mere inches. 

Gary Fergus was next to go close for Jeanfield Swifts, with a cross to the back post finding him in acres of space, but he glanced his header down into the ground, wide of the post. 

Saints B then began to grow into the game and had a good spell of play, the youngsters were particularly positive with the ball at their feet and were beginning to create openings and chances for themselves. 

Ben McCrystal had his side's first effort on goal after finding himself in space on the edge of the box, his strike looked dangerous until a deflection took the pace off of it, allowing goalkeeper Sam Townsley to come out and collect it. 

17 minutes on the clock and St. Johnstone B had their biggest chance of the contest so far. Some tidy footwork by Baillie Pert allowed him to skip past his marker and cut it back for Jackson Mylchreest inside the box, but he could not quite keep his shot down and it sailed over the bar. Encouraging signs for Saints. 

Mylchreest then went close again soon after, with a curling effort forcing Townsley into a good save, tipping the ball over the bar and out for a corner. 

In the 31st minute Jeanfield won a free-kick on the edge of the box, with Scott Mollison stepping up to take, his strong left footed effort forcing Hepburn to pull off an incredible diving save to keep his side level. 

Saints B were next to come close, this time through MyChrystal, who was a thorn in the side of Jeanfield all half, with the number 11 having another effort on goal from the edge of the area, but his shot flashed wide of the target and out, failing to trouble the keeper.

Just before half-time, captain Liam Parker had to thwart a Jeanfield attack, diving in to cut out a cross into the box and volleying it over his own bar and out for a corner. 

Going into the half-time break, both sides had their chances in the opening 45 minutes. Jeanfield Swifts started the game stronger, but St. Johnstone B grew into the contest as the half went on. The back 3 deployed by Saints were rock solid at the back, and Pert was causing problems for the Jeanfield defence. 

Jeanfield came out strong in the second half, with an inviting Mollison cross to the back post almost being tapped home by McLeish, who just couldn’t get on the end of it. A narrow escape for Saints. 

St. Johnstone B had a chance of their own to go in front, with MyChrystal playing a tidy through ball to Pert on the left flank, he cut inside and curled an effort on goal, but it was catching practice for Townsley. 

Saints B then almost went a goal down only moments later, with a Jeanfield corner into the box finding Reid, who managed to direct the ball goalwards, his effort crashed back off of the bar and was cleared to safety. 

Jeanfield then almost gifted Saints B the lead, with a Chris Scott back-pass missing its intended target, goalkeeper Sam Townsley, and rolling past the bottom corner of the goal. A defensive mix-up that could have had Saints out in front. 

Just as it looked that the game may end in a goalless draw, Jeanfield Swifts broke the deadlock. An inviting ball into the box found McLeish in space, allowing the experienced striker to nod home from close range, leaving Hepburn with no chance. 

Jeanfield then soon doubled their advantage in the third minute of stoppage time. A Scott Smith free-kick into the area was once again headed into the back of the net by McLeish, who grabbed his brace. 

Saints B were unfortunate to end up losing two late goals and should be encouraged by a solid performance against senior opposition. Jeanfield had the better chances throughout the match, McLeish was not going to miss either of those presented to him in the dying embers. 

Liam Craig was on the touchline for this one, speaking after the match he praised his side: 

LC: “There is a lot of positives to take because it was a different game to what this group of players has been used to. 

“This is our fourth game, we’ve played Civil Service, we’ve played East Kilbride and we’ve played Dundee, we played a lot of good football in those games. We came here tonight and it was a bit more physical than those games were.

“I thought for large spells the boys stood up to that, and for now it’s just letting them know that some games are going to be like that. We’ve got to find a way to keep passing the ball and compete, and I thought for large spells we did. 

“At the end of the day, a lot of them are full-time footballers now and the manager could bring them into the first-team squad any time, so you could end up as a 16/17 year old playing against 35/36 year olds, so these games are important for them.

“Playing senior games is only going to stand us in good stead ahead of the league campaign.

“At the game last night I see Cammy Ballantyne scoring his first goal for the club, I look at Taylor Steven coming on and making his debut, Ben McChrystal and Scotty Bright have trained with the first-team pre-season, whilst Liam Parker and Spencer Moreland train with the first-team a lot, so there is a lot to be excited about. 

“Jackson Mylchreest is still only 15, and Scotty Bright is still only 15, so there is a lot to learn but the good thing about them is they want to learn, they want to come in and work hard everyday.”